2014 Sportlots purchase #1: done and (almost) done

With my baseball set wantlist disappearing faster than Broncos bandwagon fans, I hit up set-building favorite Sportlots for some football help, specifically my 2000 Topps wantlist.  I needed a total of 12 cards and was able to score all of them via three different sellers, bumping the shipping cost up a bit, but coming in at a reasonable total when considering I had knocked off another set.  Here's the goods:

Considering the set came out around 14 years ago, I'm happy to recognize some of the names, specifically Rattay, Abraham, Porter, Sylvester Morris, and Franks.  Of that bunch, Abraham and Porter are definitely the best.  Abraham, a DE, was the 13th overall pick in 2000 by the Jets, and he's played every year since then, playing for the Falcons and Cardinals as well.  Porter, a 3rd-rounder in '99 to the Steelers, also played OLB for Miami and Arizona during his 13-year career, and just re-joined the team that drafted him as a coach.  As for the other players, Samuels was the highest rated of the bunch, the #3 overall pick in 2000 as a tackle out of Alabama, and was chosen by the Skins, for whom he played his entire 10-year career.  Simon, Taylor, Franks, and both Morrises joined him as 2000 first-rounders.

The set holds up decently more than a decade later, as I can definitely say I'm a fan of the color of the border, if not of its size.  The "2000 Topps" running up the right size in gold is a bit goofy, but the photos are pretty good.  Anyway, it's nice to have the formerly oldest set on my football set wants out of the way, and I'm down to just six I'm working on overall, so not bad!

While I was at it I continued to look for the trio of 2002 Upper Deck Honor Roll Update cards I needed to complete the sole remaining set on my baseball wantlist.  Previously I noted that a seller had one of the three I needed... for $5 (not counting shipping).

Screw that noise.  Amazingly, I found another guy with TWO of the three cards I needed, and they were just $0.40 each!  Shipping added to the total a bit, but who cares?  I got these two knocked off my wants:

Wesson, on the left, was a 1995 14th-rounder for Houston and got in a few games with them in 2002, and then a few more with the Halos in 2003.  So of course he needed a card.  The creatively-named Smith (whose $5 version is still available on the site for some reason) was a 2000 fifth-rounder for the Jays, and went 0-3 in 14 contests in 2002, then gave up for earned runs in a single three-inning start for the 2006 Twins before disappearing from the league for good.  These guys don't even belong in Bowman, much less Upper Deck!  Anyway, that leaves a mere ONE CARD on my baseball wantlist:

2002 Upper Deck Honor Roll #179 (Jose Rodriguez)

If you have this card or can get it for me, please let me know and I'll give you something very good for it!

Stay tuned for a couple new trade posts very soon.